Survival of the fittest
by Diablo123
Summary: This is the legend of Sara Shepard, the only one who can bring an end to a race of giant sentient machines known as the reapers- follow her as she fights the good fight with her companions, gathering old allies and making new in the hopes of destroying the reapers before they destroy everything she holds dear.


**_Okay! This is a build up to the present day, this spin-off chapter is set back when Shepard and the gang were hunting Saren- this is a meeting with one of Shepard's old friends who will become a larger part of the events that happen two years on._**

**_ It contains info on what happened and the events which lead up to the initial story- enjoy._**

**Two years ago! **

**Free falling**

Shepard looked down with a frown at the shard of glass that shattered against the floor beside her feet, splinters scattering around the trio "what the fuck-" She slowly looked up and arched a dark eyebrow at the tall building.

Her visor homing in on another thick sliver coming down in their direction, "shit!" she grunted jumping back a few steps pushing kaidan as she went, Garrus following suite.

"A Broken window?" Garrus pressed glancing up his eyes laying on the window twelve stories up.

Kaidan and Shepard gazed up wearily expecting another pane to fall on them, "on the presidium" he muttered "nothing ever happens up here"

Shepard frowned lightly again as her visor scanned the building making sure that the glass wasn't a threat to any civilians passing by.

she gasped her eyes wide as a body shot through the air, "oh- fuck" she breathed.

The form was laced with a blue aura, Shepard could see the way the energy pounded around them as they toppled and spun unable to slow themselves as they hurtled toward the ground.

Shepard darted forward as the body collided with the railing that ran along the edge of the presidium lake a sharp snap audible before they dropped limp into the water.

"Oh my god" kaidan gasped, "that was a person!"

Shepard climbed onto the rail and stared Into the water, the others at her side as a swarm of worried pedestrians circled the scene staring into the lake as the darkened form sunk to the bottom.

"What the hell just happened?" Garrus exclaimed as the water stirred to an eery still.

Shepard stared biting down on her lower lip worry lacing her. she shook her head with a grimace- in her armour she was unable to dive into the water, it simply wasn't designed swimming... It was a sure way to drown:

Shepard frowned heavily as the minutes ticked by, nobody surfacing- the worried civilians muttering amongst themselves some crying out- Shepard glared, no one was willing to jump in after the body!

"They should have surfaced by now" kaidan whispered

Garrus nodded, "No way they survived that fall- did you hear the connection?"

"Yeah" Shepard muttered swallowing hard and turning from the lake shaking her head sadly "shit" she breathed, "come on-" she muttered "there's nothing we can do"

They began to walk slowly away Shepard glancing back to the water with a heavy heart.

"upset?" Shepard jumped cursing under her breath, kaidan and Garrus stepping away in shock staring at the space where the voice had emanated from.

Shepard glared into the emptiness knowing that voice all too well, "you stupid bitch!" She snapped as she continued walking turning her face away trying to act nonchalant, "you make a habit of nearly killing yourself these days?"

The woman shrugged cursing under her breath making Shepard laugh softly at the string of vulgarities pouring from the woman's mouth, "Sometimes" the woman breathed following closely beside the trio, kaidan and Garrus eyeing where the woman walked masked with her cloaking device with curiosity, "it had to be in front of a lot of witnesses- I didn't expect you to be here.

I didn't want to have to explain this mess to anyone... never mind my friend"

"I gathered" Shepard responded softly

The woman inhaled deeply, "let's go for a drink" she offered, "just give me a chance Shepard- I'll explain why I-"

Shepard looked to the empty space beside her as they entered into the elevator, "jumped out of a building?"

The woman chuckled "yeah"

Shepard folded her arms across her waist and shook her head softly, "you going to drop that cloak now?" Shepard pressed "I'm sick of talking to thin air- and I'm pretty sure my friends want to see the woman who has been ghosting along for the past five minutes"

The woman slowly revealed herself with a grin, her soaked silver hair fell around her face in gentle waves, her shocking grey eyes wide.

she cocked her head and nodded to Shepard as she ran her eyes down the woman's frame taking in the skin tight jeans the black leather jacket, she swallowed hard noting the blood that ran down the woman's thigh, the way she held her shoulder tightly as she looked from Shepard to the elevator console and clicked on the interface.

"Where do you want to go?" Shepard pressed dismissing the stir of worry in her heart.

The silver haired woman placed a hand on her shoulder knowing that small frown all too well, "Sara I'm fine- it's just flesh wounds" she winked before cracking her neck and looking to the two men behind her, running her eyes down them taking in the humans sad eyes and the Turian's clan markings she turned her attention back to Shepard and smiled "I can trust them right?"

The question was blunt enough that it made Shepard laugh, she motioned to the pair and nodded "with your life"

She smirked clicked on another button on the interface and inhaled deeply "then we'll go to my safe house- I need to change"

Shepard nodded at this her smile bright, "I can't believe you'd even have to ask that Aki"

Aki flickered her eyes to Shepard meeting her dark gaze and blew her hair back from her eyes "I apologise" she breathed looking away and to the hole in her jeans blood trickling down. she closed her eyes and bit down on her lower lip "there's a lot going on at the minute"

"I can tell" Shepard cocked her head "why weren't you wearing armour?"

Aki's lip curled back in distaste "they caught me off guard"

The apartment was huge, two floors of strange elegance- it was unlike Aki to keep things like this Shepard puffed her cheeks out and chuckled.

The four of them stepped through the doors, Aki instantly heading for the shutter controls dropping them and flipping the lights on before heading to the stairs.

she looked back to the trio and motioned to the back of the lower floor "go through the kitchen, the bar is at the back- knock yourselves out"

"This place is yours?" Shepard frowned her eyes darting around the huge space, "well... fuck me"

Aki smirked and nodded "I'll pass" she shouted heading up the stairs making the trio laugh.

she crossed through the upper floor and into her bedroom stripping off as she went, peeling the material from her wounds.

Shepard and the others looked around the apartment slowly, walking into the lounge- exploring wanting to know more about the woman.

kaidan frowned at the picture above the fireplace folding his arms across his chest as he looked to Shepard "that's-"

"Admiral Hackett" Garrus finished eyeing the photo of the silver haired woman dressed in alliance formal wear the N7 logo branded onto the material at the top of her chest, the admirals arm over her shoulders as they smiled into the camera.

Shepard nodded once and looked away, "yeah- Aki is his daughter"

"What?" Kaidan pressed "he has a-"

Shepard looked to him, her dark eyes intently boring into his face as he frowned, "she's an N7 fury, spec ops- one of the alliances best" she breathed "not many people know of her existence she keeps out of the way"

They scanned the room slowly taking in the photo's scattered around the apartment.

Shepard walked to a table in front of a sofa and frowned at the numerous data pads picking one up and scanning it's info taking in the names of slavers with a frown- what the fuck? Her mind whispered before she replaced the data pad and stepped away examining the rest of the room.

Her eyes roved along the shelves to where kaidan stood with a grin, she approached him slowly, "what's that?" She probed softly

He handed the picture to her watching as she beamed, "oh" she took in the scene and smiled softly.

it was a few years back after a night out on illium herself and Aki looking rather drunk as they hugged staring at the camera their tongues out drinks in hand.

Shepard had to laugh it seemed like forever since that night, since being a normal soldier, everything had changed now, "you look good Shepard" Kaidan smirked

Shepard ran her eyes along herself In the photo and shrugged, "what can I say- I scrub up well" she mused laying on the deep blue dress she wore, her hair down hanging in Loose curls, Aki in black her silver hair over her eyes she chuckled and placed it back on the shelf.

"Shepard?" She looked up and walked over to where Garrus stood holding a frame she glanced to the picture and smiled "this her squad?"

"Yeah- they're a good group always up for a laugh" she breathed softly walking through into a side room and cocking her head at the numerous weapon shelves loaded up with everything needed to kit out an entire fucking army "shit"

The other two approached her slowly lingering at the threshold of the door taking in the armour and weaponry "that's a black widow" Garrus breathed walking to it with a grin picking it up feeling the weight with a laugh "modified with lightweight materials" he placed the scope over his eye and whistled "and a thermal scope, armour piercing mods as well" he nodded putting it back "she's good"

Shepard looked to the glass armour case and pressed her hand against the armour it was black- like all aki's armour- with a lining of deep blue, skin tight, flexible plating with subtle spaces between to allow her dexterity to be unscathed, a holster adorned the thigh her sword hung on a peg beside glinting silver the handle moulded only to the wielders hand, the blade itself Shepard knew for a fact that when activated crackled with electricity- she smiled softly and turned away approaching a small box on the end of the weapons bench and flipped the metal lid open revealing seven sets of alliance tags.

she took one of the chains out and looked at the name "Jonas Perez"

Kaidan frowned "you alright?"

"These are aki's squad mates" she breathed replacing it and putting the lid down with a confused frown.

Aki quickly dried her hair and tended to her wounds with a shit load of Medi-gel before changing into a fresh set of clothes.

she picked up her tags off her beside cabinet and slipped them over her head before heading down the stairs.

She approached the room she kept her weapons bench in following the trail of voices and came to a stop leaning against the door frame as Shepard examined the tags she kept in a metal container, "they're to be returned to their families" she breathed making the trio turn to look at her.

"They're all dead?" Shepard pressed

Aki swallowed hard and looked away "yeah- Tory, Henderson, Yura and Ito died during the initial assault" they watched her fists ball at her sides "Aren and David's died in the shuttle and Perez..." She shook her head "he died on a stretcher heading into surgery"

"Aki" Shepard breathed watching the sadness engulf the woman, "how long ago?"

"Four months" she pursed her lips slightly and shrugged

Shepard stared at her wide eyed "you didn't return to the alliance did you?" She pressed "you're on some wild vendetta for vengeance"

Aki shrugged lightly and stepped out of the room.

Shepard frowned and tailed her, they entered into a back room Aki instantly climbed into a bar stool and walked along the bar top standing up on her tiptoes to reach the top shelf grasping at a bottle of matured Batarian ale before dropping behind the bar and turning to the others as she popped the sealing taking a swig from the bottle before passing it to Shepard who exhaled heavily before taking a drink and passing it to kaidan who frowned at the blue gloop within, "this is?"

"Batarian ale uncut" Aki murmured turning back to the shelves as they all took a seat at the bar.

she scoured the contents of the alcohol before smiling pulling out a silver canister and tossing it to the Turian who quirked his brow plate "it's safe" she smirked "don't worry"

"Turian whiskey?" He pressed with a click of his mandibles "how the hell did you get your hands on this?"

She smiled leaning against the bar "it's smooth- I used to travel with a few Turian's the rations are like eating shit but the alcohol- it's good" she muttered taking another drink from the bottle as it was passed back to her.

"You can eat dextro?"

Shepard nodded "yeah she can- she's one of those freaks of nature who gets to keep her insides in tact"

Aki smirked jumped up perching on the edge as Shepard stared at her "now you've had your Dutch courage want to tell me what's happening?"

Aki bit down on the inside of her cheek and inhaled deeply "Shepard- remember when we went back to earth?"

"For the summer? When we went to Mexico?"

Aki leaned back against the wall and inhaled deeply "and you got so drunk on tequila that you vomited all over that guy at the bar?"

"Yeah- I remember... Kind of-" she rubbed her head "Once I get passed the drunken blur and the way my stomach wretches whenever I think about tequila"

Aki closed her eyes and frowned "I'd only been in the alliance 3 years then" she smirked.

Shepard took the bottle from her and downed a gulp before glancing to Garrus as he drank from the whiskey in his hand before he nodded to Aki passing it to her, she shrugged lightly taking a drink and passing it back with a wicked 'i told you so' smile. Shepard laughed and passed the bottle to kaidan again eyeing him as he took another swig of the ale grimacing, "yeah" Shepard breathed eventually, "you got entered into the N7 program that year right?"

Aki swallowed hard her head between her knees, "yeah" she frowned slightly and looked to Shepard her eyes burning "it's my fault they're dead Shepard"

"Hmm" she responded softly, propping herself up onto her elbows, "how so?"

Aki leaned her head back against the wall behind her and groaned, "we were sent to wipe out a group of Batarian slavers. I didn't check the comms they had done it hundreds of times they knew to swap the channel- but one of them didn't.

One or them had used an unsecured channel and the batarians caught hold of some info" she looked to her booted feet and inhaled deeply staring intently at the buckles, "they... were waiting for us, ambushed my squad.

I managed to get a few out but" she stopped herself and sighed her hands covering her eyes as she brushed away the sadness "you know the rest"

Shepard titled her head, dark hair spilling over her forehead as she ran her hazel eyes along her friend with a worried frown taking in the bruising and cuts, the thick scars marking her cheek, the dark rims beneath her stunning eyes.

This wasn't the Aki she used to know, this didn't look like the woman who bested her entire class or the woman who smashed N7 to new levels.

"Aki- Why do I get the feeling you're in way over your head" Shepard breathed with a heavy sigh.

Aki rubbed her tired eyes with the heels of her palms and exhaled heavily, "Sara- what's with the 20 questions" she smiled sadly, "don't worry so much- I can handle myself"

"this isn't like you" Shepard ran a hand through her tousled dark hair pulling the bobble free with the motion

"Sara-"

"Aki come on!" She leaned forward "this is me! Just- You can trust us"

aki glared in response "Listen I did what had to be done- four months ago I broke rank okay? Is that what you want to know?" She snapped "I got my fucking squad killed by a bunch of slaver bastards- I walked into a trap and they all died because of me! seven of the best spec ops we have- slaughtered- I'm not fit to serve the alliance. Not yet." she grunted, there eyes lay heavy on her, on the angry flush that adorned her cheeks, the way her eyes burned brightly.

Shepard reached her hand out and placed it on the woman's forearm "I'm so sorry for your loss- I know you were all close" she bowed her head and ground her teeth together, "but it doesn't change the fact that you're a born leader- you aced N7, you're- Aki we need people like you, there's a storm coming-the alliance needs you back don't let this diminish what you've achieved"

Aki looked up to her through her lashes and smirked, "soon Shepard" she breathed "I can return to Arcturus when I finish what I've started"

"Which is?"

"Revenge"

Shepard smirked bowing her head, "so the whole window thing- is... Was- What?" She swallowed hard before drinking from the bottle passed her way.

Aki cracked her neck "I led them right to me"

Garrus nodded slowly "wait what- I don't understand you led them to you?"

She nodded once sternly, "My other apartment is filled with dead slavers- lured as many in as possible, I then made myself disappear they'll assume the fall killed me- that the vanguard they sent after me threw me out of the window. I already hacked the presidiums camera feeds so I that never got out of the water the thermal tech really isn't that good- the civilians all watched me essentially die- I'm a ghost they'll still be looking for my body"

"So what?" Shepard smiled "you can just walk up and kill a target?"

"Exactly- I'm a free woman... for now" she laughed softly, "a few days from now once the slaver leader has been dealt with I'll go back and stand trial for unauthorised absence"

"Would your father put in a good word?" Kaidan pressed softly "I can't see Hackett standing by whilst his daughter is grilled"

She shook her head slightly "no- Hackett knows that I wouldn't accept my rank back if he interfered in the proceedings. I have gotten this far by myself- I will live with the choices I have made be that good or bad"

"This could earn you a prison sentence" Shepard mused.

"Considering my achievements they may just strip me of rank and discharge me dishonorably"

"You don't seem worried by that prospect" Garrus frowned his mandibles clicking sharply.

Aki smiled at the Turian softly and cocked her head, "I'm not- so long as a bullet shatters that batarians skull I don't give a shit what happens after that"

Shepard leaned back and brushed her hair behind her ear her eyes intense, "you're ridiculously laid back about this whole thing Aki"

Aki laughed softly before running her tongue along her teeth "you know I haven't even introduced myself to you guys" she shifted slightly and extended a hand in the human males direction "my name is lieutenant colonel Aki Hackett N7 fury division"

The dark haired man shook her hand "lieutenant kaidan Alenko" he smiled.

She moved to the Turian with the blue clan markings and shook his hand with a grin "Garrus Vakarian"

She chuckled slightly at this shifting to sit back, "pleasure to make your acquaintances"


End file.
